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Is Apple’s Green Cred Slipping

If you know me, you’re probably aware I’m not a big fan of Apple. That’s not exactly a true statement. I actually like Apple. I think they’re a good company, I just think there are far too many people caught up in the idea of Apple and the image surrounding Apple than they are the actual machines themselves. But, that point could be debated for ages I’m sure.

Rotten Apple

Apple caused controversy recently by performing a rather embarrassing u-turn on their green ratings issue. An upcoming redesign of the Apple’s hardware line meant that their Macbooks, iPads and iPhones will no longer satisfy the EPEAT ratings that determine the “green-ness” of a product and whether it easily recycled. EPEAT monitors the energy efficiency and recyclability of electrical goods.

The Cause of the Issue

The problem seemed to stem from the fact that Apple seems to be making its new line of products non-upgradable (fixed memory, etc) and non recyclable (fixing the battery to the laptop itself, preventing both parts from being recycled). Wouldn’t that also mean that once the battery died and could no longer hold a charge the laptop would be useless?

Apple then shocked everyone performing a total 180 and rejoining the scheme, even claiming the gold standard rating for its new Macbook Pro. Management came out to admit that it was a mistake to publically disengage from the scheme. Pressure from consumers turned out to play a pivotal role in persuading Apple that no longer being associated with the scheme would greatly harm the appeal of the company.

The Green Pioneers

The city of San Francisco led the way by announcing that it would no longer buy Apple computers for its public services. San Francisco is known as a tech-hungry city with recent campaigns to increase high speed broadband after broadband speed tests disappointed individual consumers. It might surprise some people to know that Apple’s corporate sales do not compare favorably to companies like Dell and HP, however hanging onto its corporate clientele is extremely important for the tech giant.

Greenpeace have recently attacked Apple for relying on coal-fire energy to support its iCloud feature, producing a video attacking Apple’s energy sourcing. Apple have been criticized for not living up to their green credentials while enjoying the top spot as the world’s most profitable tech company.

There is always going to be a constant tension between innovation and the imposition of standards. It’s sometimes hard to assess the greenness of a completely new technology, and retina screens are one example of this. Even so, Apple have been keen to shoulder the blame and publically admit their mistake.

What Are Your Views?

Do you think this is a case of Apple trailblazing and falling out of step with EPEAT, or a case of Apple putting their profit line before the environment? Whatever the internal politics, we’ll be able to find out more as new products launch and their new build and specs become clear. It’s interesting to see how consumers will react to this PR blip from Apple. Are green credentials important to you and would a loss of green cred prevent you from buying from your favorite tech company?

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The Microsoft MBA Infographic

Take a look at the following infographic and let me know what you think. You see I’m a Microsoft fan. Notice I said “fan” and not “fan boy”. I think the infographic below is a little bit of a sharp stab at Microsoft, but there is some truth behind some of the statements and facts behind it.

My frustration is that with regards to news about Microsoft and their nemesis Apple, people find what they’re looking for in their news. I think the vast majority of people look at Microsoft with crap-colored glasses and look for what they’re doing wrong or what they messed up. The same is true of Apple, they of course get the rose-colored glasses and everything they do is looked at as God’s gift to technology.

I think if we looked at both organizations and swapped our glasses, we’d find good news about Microsoft and bad news about Apple. After you take a look at the infographic, what do you agree with against Microsoft and what would you put in your Apple MBA infographic?
Microsoft MBA: Over 30 Years of Innovation
Created by: MBAOnline.com

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Verizon iPhone 4 Review from a PC and Android Guy

In my last post I wrote about the planets starting to align or something in order to force strongly encourage our household to move over to the dark Apple side of the computing spectrum. Part of the alignment of all of that activity was the opportunity to get my hands on an iPhone 4 on Verizon's network and see what I thought.

iPhone 4 on VerizonI won't get into all the reasons why I've generally avoided Apple products, so let's just jump right into what I thought about this phone.

What I Like About the iPhone 4

The first thing I noticed about the iPhone 4 when I had it in my hand was the weight of the device. It felt heavy and solid. I liked this. You see, I'm not a buff, muscular guy, but I don't mind carrying around something with a few more ounces on it and whine about the size.

This is especially true when that weight comes from what appears to be some solid construction and materials. It felt like the iPhone 4 could take an accidental drop to the ground and have no problems living through it. Unlike some other phones that feel and look like they should have Fisher-Price stamped on the backs of their casing. You may sell your iPhone if you cannot fix it.

The other item that I was immediately impressed with when I used it was the on-screen, virtual keyboard. Generally I don't think I'll ever buy a phone that doesn't have a slide-out, physical keyboard, but what I noticed about the iPhone 4 keyboard is that it was much more forgiving than the on-screen keyboard available on my Samsung Moment from Sprint. I found that I could actually type fairly quickly with two fingers on the Apple keyboard with fairly good accuracy.

The last really noticeable feature of the Verizon iPhone 4 is the resolution of the display and also the quality of both still images and video taken with the phone.

I should also probably state that since my wife and kids have made the switch to Apple, both kids were always asking for the iPhone so they could play their favorite games. I don't really think availability of apps is a big differentiator these days between Apple and Android devices though.

What I Didn't Like About the iPhone 4

Perhaps the biggest dislike I have on the iPhone 4 is having to install iTunes on your computer to manage the phone. In the entire time I had the phone I hardly ever had the phone plugged into my PC laptop. My first attempt suggested that I had to install iTunes on my computer to manage the phone and there was no way I was installing iTunes on my computer again. I absolutely hate that software. I did find out later that I could plug-in the phone through the USB device cable and disregard the iTunes prompts and still access the phone like an external storage device. I eventually used this option to get all of the photos and videos off the phone that I'd taken.

Another item that I didn't enjoy was that I would regularly try to find various menus and preference settings in the OS and on applications that I would expect and they'd either not be found, or just buried in unintuitive locations. There are also some other controls that make absolute sense when you finally have someone show you how to do it, or figure it out on your own, it's far from logical to find it on your own.

Overall phone call quality and network access never seemed to be an issue while I was using the phone. Since the phone isn't my primary phone, real-world, regular use as a phone device wasn't tested as much as I would have liked.

One good and bad thing I picked up from the phone is I've now started playing Words With Friends. The application on the iPhone 4 looks fantastic and was a lot of fun. Even knowing I wasn't keeping the phone I still bought the full-paid version of the app to play it. The bad news is that the Android iteration of the game isn't quite as smooth and polished. Some of that is due to the graphic display differences between the two phones, but the Android version of the game also seems to crash and hang up far more frequently. And... there's no paid version of the Android app.

So there's my review of the iPhone 4. Am I dropping the Android and making the switch? No. Would I? Perhaps, but that would be inclusive of my final decision to then probably go full-blown Apple convert and completely move to all Apple computers and other devices. That day isn't on the horizon in the near future that I can see.

Note: I was provided an iPhone 4 from Verizon for review purposes in exchange for this blog post. My opinions and experiences with the phone are completely my own and were not influence positively or negatively by Verizon or any of their associates and partners.